


When Hell Freezes Over

by glitterprison



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, F/F, Pitch Perfect 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-22
Updated: 2015-12-22
Packaged: 2018-05-08 11:49:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5496014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitterprison/pseuds/glitterprison
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On a rare, rainy December night in Los Angeles, Beca and Chloe take their five-year-old daughter, Carley, around town to look at Christmas lights. Just some cute, festive Christmas fluff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When Hell Freezes Over

It never snowed in Los Angeles, but sometimes, Chloe Beale wished it did. Back in Georgia, snowy winters hadn't been all that common either, but she'd experienced a handful or so of white Christmases over the years. Beca, her wife, felt similarly when it came to the matter. The brunette loved L.A. and the life they'd made there, but couldn’t exactly say she was a fan of the lack of seasons.

Down in Southern California, it was sunny and seventy-five degrees _at least_ year-round. During the summers and early fall, the temperature could reach as high as 110. That, combined with the dry air, was enough to make everyone want to submerge themselves in any and every bit of cold water they found themselves around. Sure, being able to frequent the Hollywood hills was nice and having the beach less than twenty minutes away was even nicer, but Beca and Chloe missed the milder weather that came with other seasons. Nothing beat watching the leaves turn and waking up to chilly, and occasionally, rainy or snowy mornings during the months of October, November and December. So, when the weather decided to even _remotely_ resemble the proper season, even if only for a couple of hours, the two always made a point to take full advantage of it.

It was the reason why they’d dragged themselves, along with their five-year-old, out into the rain one mid-December night to look at all of the decorated houses and Christmas lights around the area. 

Chloe had done her research a few days ago and after some heavy googling, had compiled a list consisting of the top ten places to go. However, given the fact that not even Christmas lights could escape LA traffic, Beca had convinced her to narrow it down to two for the current night. They’d driven around Beverly Hills, going uncharacteristically slow down Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive, taking the time to appreciate the way the colorful lights swirled around the thousands of palm trees. Their daughter, Carley, was especially impressed with the radiant version of Santa and his reindeer flying past Beverly Drive. Before moving onto their second stop, they’d all gotten hot chocolates, Carley requesting extra whipped cream on hers, just like Chloe. 

“I don’t think you need _extra,_ ” Beca tried, “You’re already sweet enough.” It was a weak attempt to try and avoid more sugar than necessary, and as expected, it didn’t work. There were few things Beca had a hard time resisting in this world, her daughter’s pouts being one of them. 

“Pretty please with a cherry on top, momma? And sprinkles,” Carley asked, folding her hands together underneath her chin. 

Beca cracked a smile and slowly shook her head, knowing her answer would’ve been the same with or without the cherry and sprinkles on top. “Fine,” she reluctantly agreed, “ _Only_ because it’s a special night. But, this means no monkey business when it’s time for bed.” 

Practically lunging towards the brunette, Carley threw her arms around her mother’s waist, tilting her head all the way back to look up at her. Showing off the gap where her two front teeth had once been, she promised, “I won’t be a monkey.”

“You’re always a monkey,” Chloe pointed out, stepping up behind Carley and placing her hands on either side of her head, bending over to kiss the tip of her nose.

Within minutes, their hot chocolates were made to order and the Beale-Mitchell’s piled back into the car. Next up was Candy Cane Lane — an eight-block display of lights and decorations. 

Despite the rain, the streets were packed, some families still in their cars while others opted to park and walk. Chloe, being the driver and current adult in control, went with the latter, insisting that moments like this were what umbrellas had been made for. With a roll of her eyes, Beca relented, though that didn’t stop her from being the last out of the car. 

“Come _on_ , momma!” Carley insisted, squeezing Chloe’s hand she was holding while jumping up and down. The sugar high was beginning to kick in. Luckily, it was something both women were well-versed in dealing with. 

“I’m here, I’m here,” Beca said with an exaggerated sigh, opening her umbrella over the three of them. 

It was a tight squeeze to remain fully covered, but they managed, Beca and Chloe content with sandwiching their daughter between their sides. Carley’s head poked out in front of them, her hazel eyes wide with excitement and wonder as she pointed out just about _everything_ that they walked by. If she wasn’t shouting about Santa or snowmen, she was asking one of the fifty million questions her mother’s struggled to keep up with. 

_“Why is Snow White and her dwarves on that lawn?”_

_“What do you think that Elf’s name is?”_

_“Why do all of those reindeers have red noses?”_

_“Is that snow? Where is all of that coming from?!”_

Since half of the answers that came to Beca’s mind consisted of the inappropriate, “I have no fucking clue,” she left answering the majority of them up to Chloe, admiring her wife’s similar child-like glee. A lot of the time, Beca found herself teasingly questioning who the real five-year-old was, but deep down, she secretly loved when the line was occasionally blurred. It was sickeningly sweet watching her two girls interact, _especially_ when they both got excited. When Chloe laughed, so did Carley, and when their little one dreamed out-loud, so did the redhead. The way they fed off of each other was contagious in such a way that Beca couldn't even begin to hide her grin as the pair took off down the sidewalk, holding hands, running right through the rain to the ‘real’ snow.

“It’s snowing, mommy!” Carley screeched, looking up to the sky. Raindrops landed on her face along with the occasional ‘flake’ of snow. 

“It is!” Chloe agreed, squatting down to her height, “It’s so pretty, isn’t it?”

In reality, the sudsy, machine-made snowflakes showering the air around them were no match for the beauty of the real thing. Not even the way the rain was illuminated by all of the lights could compare to the way actual snow looked when it was falling. However, this version of snowfall was all Carley knew; this type of ‘winter’ was what their daughter was used to. For Beca and Chloe, it was their new normal, but a normal they’d come to know and love nonetheless. 

When Beca eventually caught up, she closed the umbrella and stood behind Carley and Chloe, easily zoning out as she looked at all the lights. There were blow-up flamingos wearing Christmas hats and a family of snowmen out on the lawn. A train carrying presents circled around and around, occasionally releasing a puff of steam. Up on the roof were Santa’s reindeer, standing next to an empty sleigh, and out of the chimney stuck a pair of black boots, all lit up around the edges. Multicolored, icicle lights outlined the whole thing, a row of bright candy canes lined the walkway, and sitting out on the porch was Santa himself, accompanied by a line of children. 

“Hey, Carles,” Beca said, a nickname she’d taken to calling Carley from time to time. She placed a hand on her shoulder and pointed towards the front door with the other, asking, “Do you see who’s up there?”

Carley’s gaze followed Beca’s finger, eyes widening even more than either mother thought possible as she spotted him. “Santa,” she breathed, her voice not much louder than a whisper. 

“Mhm,” Beca hummed, snaking an arm around Carley’s middle to pull her back some. Kissing her cheek, she suggested, “Why don’t you go meet him?” 

Reaching for Chloe’s arm, Carley insisted, “Only if mommy comes.” 

Finding her daughter’s hand, Chloe intertwined their fingers and straightened. Though she wasn’t biologically related to either of them, it was times like these that, regardless, Carley proved to be the perfect mixture of each. The enchantment that filled her day-to-day life was definitely all Chloe, whereas her shyness and skepticism were attributes that everyone pinned on Beca. 

“Duh,” Chloe said, reaching with her free hand to tickle her fingers across Carley’s side, making her giggle, “I want to meet Santa, too.” 

The little girl leaned into Chloe, who gently tugged on her hand, leading the way up to Santa. While they waited in line, Beca took their picture, and then took some more when it was their turn to visit with the big man. 

Looking down at her wet shoes, Carley chewed on her lower up, only looking up when Chloe prompted her to introduce herself. “Can you tell Santa your name?” 

“Carley,” she mumbled with a shrug of her shoulders. Santa offered her a candy cane. 

“Merry Christmas, Carley,” Santa said, “Have you been a good little girl this year?”

Carley nodded, cautiously taking the candy cane, as if it were some sort of trick. 

“And what would you like for Christmas this year?” he asked. 

Smiling some, Carley looked to Chloe for reassurance, who immediately matched her small smile, “Go ahead, you can tell him.”

“A purple karaoke machine. With sparkles, please,” Carley stated, her voice finally reaching an audible level. 

Chloe beamed, grinning from ear to ear. Her baby was a little Barden Bella to be. 

“I’ll see what my elves and I can put together for you, kiddo. Have a very Merry Christmas!” Santa replied.

Letting go of Chloe’s hand, Carley spun around and held her candy cane up in the air, showing it off to Beca. “Look what I got,” she said excitedly, as if her other mother hadn’t been standing right behind her, witnessing the entire thing. 

“Wow! How cool, more sugar - just what you need,” Beca replied just as enthusiastically, the sarcasm laced in such a way that was still too complicated for her daughter to comprehend. With a bit of a feigned struggle, she lifted Carley up and placed her on her hip, running a hand over her unruly, stringy, rain-soaked hair. While Chloe took the umbrella from her and opened it back up for the walk back to the car, Beca added some genuine praise, “You did a great job talking to Santa."

“I know,” Carley confidently stated, and both of the older women laughed. Such confidence only ever seemed to really exist when she was around them, but that was fine by them.

Carley was their little introvert and extrovert all at once, a combination that made perfect sense to anyone who knew them. Now, it was time to get her home for a change into dry pajamas and snuggles while they watched The Polar Express for what seemed like the hundredth time so far that month. 

  


 

**Author's Note:**

> Do you have your own minific prompt requests? Send them to me at glitterprison.tumblr.com! Thanks for reading :)


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